EM 526 Constraints Management

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Email: jholt@wsu.edu
Home Office Phone: 503-669-6676
WSU Engineering & Technology Management Program

Link to EM 530 Applications in Constraints Management
Link to EM 534 Contemporary Topics in Constraints Management
Link to Constraints Management Certificate from WSU
Link to WEBCT

 Take EM 526 Constraints Management over the Internet!

Live Sessions in Spring 2009 will be taught by Videostreaming over the Internet (and on two-way video in WSU classrooms in Washington State) in the evenings PM Pacific Time (January through April)

Class Syllabus

Students completing this course in the TOC Thinking Process can receive a Jonah Certificate from TOCICO (the Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization).
EM 526 is the TOC Thinking Process plus much discussion about other TOC topics. This class (with practice afterwards) is sufficient to prepare for the TOCICO Thinking Process Certification Exam.

(See a free Video Stream Introduction to The Theory of Constraints: Constraints Management Overviews)

 

The next offering is Spring 2009 Starting the first week of January.
The live, interactive video streaming portions of the course are broadcast in the evenings weekly.
Students also have significant self-study portion and peer interaction through email.

 

We have had students in the Philippines, Cyprus, Korea, Estonia, India, Mexico, Colombia and Germany as well as most areas of the USA. If you have a high speed connection to the Internet, you can receive this class anywhere.
The live lectures are archived so you can see them at a time that is convenient for you.

 

To give you some idea of the content, I'm posting some old PowerPoint material for public viewing:

  (Note, the lectures accompany the video stream which is only available to registered students):

Week 1 Lecture: Introduction to Theory of Constraints and the Thinking Process

Week 1 Self Study Material - Your First Logic Twigs

Week 8 Lecture: Creating Strategy and Intro to PRTs and TTs

Week 8 Self Study Material - Class Helps Tree Assignment

One student commented upon his study of the TOC Thinking Process and the impact on his life by 'Creating a Cloud-A-Day' for our EM 534 class. You may find his comments insightful. Andres Hurtado's Cloud-a-Day video. 

Spring 2009 will be the 17th offering of EM 526 using Distance Education with nearly 500 students completing full Thinking Process analyses to learn and apply the logic tools. This course is a combination of class lecture and self-discovery. There is group interaction to heighten the learning process for distance learners. We will use WebCT as the student-class interface. Study materials and abundant resources are available to provide a broad understanding of the Theory of Constraints as its is applied in many different situations. Weekly lectures are available live on-line (or delayed by archived) by streaming video and also through the Interactive Television WHETS (Washington Higher Education Telecommunications System). Text materials, exercises and PowerPoint slides provide extra resources. The text Its Not Luck provides the basis for common, group projects. By teaching a little each week, students have time to develop their understanding and apply or test their new knowledge as they learn.
 

Graduate classes taught over a distance are not as easy as being in a classroom. Communication is often limited to the students ability to talk in the Chat Room during lecture, participation in the class email list or to email/call the instructor and other students. To view the streaming video lectures live, you need a fast Internet connection. The lectures are archived and can be viewed or reviewed later with slower connection speeds. We have had students in Mexico, India and Estonia successfully participate in class. You should check your video streaming capability at the links below to see if this type of distance education is suitable for your location.

Course Content: EM 526 Constraints Management focuses on Eli Goldratt's Thinking Processes. Students learn the Thinking Processes by applying them to a complex problem of their own choosing. They analysis the system by logical cause and effect to find the core conflict of the system. They discover breakthrough solutions as new directions for their future. Students validate their solution with a Future Reality Tree (could consider this as the company strategy plan) trimming the negative effects. They also create a step-by-step action plan to overcome all the obstacles in their plan and cause the future to exist in reality.

This course is for students looking for new solutions to unresolved problems or to find ways to implement proven solutions in a complex system. (Students wanting to learn the proven solutions of Drum-Buffer-Rope, Critical Chain Project Management, Replenishment and Supply Chain should take EM 530 Applications in Constraints Management).

 

Students who have completed both EM 526 and EM 530 can enroll in EM 534 Contemporary Topics in Constraints Management multiple times to keep up-to-date with the most current TOC materials. A Certificate in Constraints Management is also available. See details at: http://www.engrmgt.wsu.edu/Overview/empCert.html

 

EM 526 Constraints Management is a course intended for graduate engineers pursuing a masters degree in Engineering Management. Others in different degree granting programs may apply. The minimum requirements for admission to the EM 526 Constraints Management course are:

• An undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university.
• A 3.0 or equivalent undergraduate GPA (or approval from the instructor Dr. Holt)
• A serious interest in learning the Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes to solve complex, systemic problems.

Note: Qualified undergraduates can enroll in EM 426 Constraints Management at the undergraduate level.

There will be a class size limit for combined EM 526 and EM 426. Those enrolling in EM 526 receive preference.

Admissions and Registration

I. Admissions

Students wishing to register for this course must be first be admitted as undergraduate (EM 426) or graduate (EM 526) students. Students who have earned their bachelors degrees MUST register in the 500-level section. The enrollment cost varies from about $1000 for students with Washington state residency and those qualifying for tuition relief to around $2500 for Internet and corporate rate students. Registration for this course will be facilitated by our program secretary. Directions for admission are also posted on the web site: http://www.engrmgt.wsu.edu/Admissions/index.html and http://www.wsu.edu/~gradsch/progspec_engmngmt.html

Engineering Management Program
Patti Elshafei
ETRL 336
PO Box 642785
Pullman, WA 99164-2785

email to: pelshafei@wsu.edu
Engineering Management web page www.engrmgt.wsu.edu
Office (509) 335-0125
Fax (509) 335-4725

New students with undergraduate or graduate degrees earned in the US, should apply as soon as possible and have official transcripts requested to be sent directly from all colleges attended, no later than November 15, 2008. This will allow you to be completely admitted by mid to late December 2006. Students need to test and debug their Internet receiving capabilities well in advance of the start of the course.

New international students with undergraduate or graduate degrees earned outside the US should apply by October 2008. Ttranscripts and translations must be received by October 30;be sure and indicated on the application that you are not attending in the United States.

Continuing students may register in the normal way using METRO (http://www.metro.wsu.edu)

Former students will need to apply for re-enrollment if they did not enroll the previous semester (not including summer). http://www.gradsch.wsu.edu/forms/Reenrollment.doc

Special Accelerated Registration Process for New Students (NOT TO BE USED BY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS UNLESS DIRECTED, this admission is extremely limited and should only be used if there is a time crunch, problem with undergraduate grades, or if the student only wants to take one class. All others should apply for regular admission and request official transcripts.)

1. Complete the following UND-G (Undecided Graduate) Application. http://www.gradsch.wsu.edu/forms/Und-g%20App%20Master.doc Send one copy to the WSU Graduate School at the address on the Form. Make sure and write legibly and send the $50 Processing Fee. This paper work should arrive at WSU about November 15th or before. Email a second copy to Engineering Management Program Secretary.
2. When you are admitted, you will be notified of your new WSU Identification number by letter or email (this may take two or more weeks after the Grad School processes your Application).

II. Registration

When you are admitted, and have received your WSU Identification number, you need to go on-line and create a Network IDentification (NID) http://www.it.wsu.edu/Nid/new_user.html name and password for yourself. http://www.it.wsu.edu/Nid/new_user.html The NID will give you access to the WebCT Classroom Software and other services on campus. When you create your NID make your NID something that helps faculty recognize its you (a few initials followed by last name seems fine).

Once you are admitted and have a NID, go to www.metro.wsu.edu and using your NID you register by following the instructions. Try first and if you have trouble contact Patti and she can help (only after you try and fail first) Patti Elshafei.

Once admitted and registered, you will need to pay for class. This should happen after Nov 15 and before Jan 10th. For instructions visit How to Pay,

All students should check out their ability to receive WebCT courseware by visiting WebCT Orientation. At this site, there are links where you can give your browser a WebCT Tune-up. www.webct.wsu.edu

You may wonder what an On-Line class is like and if you have the computer capacity to receive the course material. I'm including here links to snippets from some old archived streaming video from our EM 530 Applications in Constraints Management course. These are public links. The actual course material is offered in a secure fashion through WebCT Internet Courseware. This particular public video is older when compression technology was not as good so the image is a bit fuzzy. Our current technology is better than this streaming video. But if you can get this old clip, you will do even better with newer video streams.

Oh, here is a short public link that shows a newer, clearer image with higher band width: Making a In-Class Presentation

Course Documents
Class Syllabus

Conflict Resolution Presentation 
(a RealPlayer video stream of a presentation to an Industrial Engineering Conference in Monterrey Mexico Fall 2003)
Worksheet for Conflict Resolution Presentation
Slides to Accompany Conflict Resolution Presentation

Connecting to the DrHoltList for Class Email Discussion
Connecting to the APICS CMSIG Newsgroup

If you want success, remember to because

PS. Thanks to

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